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Bird the King of New York

Sam Bird has secured back to back wins in New York City as the English driver took his fifth win in his Formula E career at the Big Apple.

The two Mahindra Racing drivers completed the podium with Felix Rosenqvist finishing second and Nick Heidfeld in third.

Pierre Gasly showed his talents by finishing in fourth on his debut weekend in the sport, as Di Grassi secured fifth place and closed the championship lead to Buemi to ten points.

Start of the Race

Rosenqvist was able to jump into the lead of the race, as he dived down the inside to take the lead from Bird into turn one.

The move proved that the pole position side on the grid had less grip than the second place spot despite Bird being on the racing line.

Daniel Abt bad luck continued as his car stopped on track. The German was able to get going but was forced to pit to try and solve the problem.

Jean-Eric Vergne and Maro Engel were forced to pit to replace damaged parts which destroyed their chances of a good result.

Mitch Evans had a battery management issues after locking up at turn four, which forced him to retire and caused a full course yellow.

Rosenqvist was defending hard from Bird, but the Brit forced his way through at the turn six hairpin as he dived down the inside and made a move stick.

Bird then pulled away from the two Mahindra’s and created a two-second gap between himself and Rosenqvist.

Di Grassi was moving his way through the field and was up to fifth place after starting from ninth in the first 15 laps.

Alex Lynn came to a halt on lap 20 and caused another full course yellow which helped the teams that were struggling on energy management.

Pit Stop Window

The Mahindra racing drivers used the full course yellow to pit to try and leapfrog Bird under full course yellow. However, it didn’t work as the Bird was still able to pit under full course yellow and retained the lead.

Techeetah didn’t pit under full course yellow, and that cost their two drivers dearly in the race as they came out in 14th and 15th.

Bird created a two and half second gap to Rosenqvist and was controlling the race as it entered the closing stages.

Heidfeld passed Rosenqvist and started to close the gap to Bird. Meanwhile, Rosenqvist was having regen problem which the Swedish driver had to manage himself to help get to the chequered flag.

Closing Stages

The Dragon Racing boys got into a fight which cost the team, as it allowed Antonio Felix Da Costa to catch up. Jerome D’Ambrosio passed Loic Duval which put Da Costa onto the rear wing of the French driver.

Da Costa then hit Duval and was given a drive-through penalty for causing a collision.

Gasly caught the Mahindra’s on the last lap and tried to overtake Heidfeld on the final corner but hit the wall and crossed the line in fourth with three wheels on his waggon.

However, Bird was able to win the race with a ten-second advantage and claim back to back wins in New York.